tnp (6/1) or: NC is my biatch

sometimes, everything goes right and last night was one of those nights. lately i have to admit that i have been seeing more flops and am willing to call small raises pre-flop with cards i would have normally thrown away just to see the flop.

my first big hand of the night was when i called on the button with 68. flop comes 5 5? 7. CB bets 6, i call and MN goes all in for about 15 more. CB thinks for a while and eventually calls. i put MN on an overpair in his hand, maybe tens and CB holding a 5. i figure i have 15 outs and decide to call when CB calls. the turn is a beautiful 4 and i call CB's all in for a couple more. it turns out i only had two outs because CB has pocket 7s and flopped a boat. MN shows the trip 5s and i scoop it in.

much later in the night i complete the SB with 68o and see a flop with NC in the BB. flop comes 8-4-3 rainbow and i come out betting. NC raises me and i call. anybody else i might lay it down right here, but with NC he could have anything. turn comes another 8 and i'm feeling pretty good until NC raises me back again. river brings a 6 and i shove all in. NC goes into a deep think and finally mucks. in retrospect with the worst i could do is split the pot i think i should have bet smaller but i think i was hoping he would think i was trying to buy the pot and call.

it all works out in the end because the last hand of the night i catch pocket rockets UTG and call hoping NC or MN behind me will raise the pot as they have been doing all night. sadly this is the one hand where neither of them chooses to be aggressive and we have a family pot. flop comes K-baby-baby with two spades and now i'm wishing i raised big pre-flop. i bet 3 and NC raises me 3. everyone else ejects and i decide that i want it here and now and raise him 20. He goes all in for another 12 and i call. he shows K2o and a river adds a final florish.

tnp

tuesday night poker is back. after a two week break we had a game. and as an added bonus, it was six-handed!! now one extra guy may not seem like a lot, but the dynamics of the game did change quite a bit. one thing was that the new guy, a friend of NC, was an unknown so we had to figure out what his style was. also with one more guy, we got to see one more hand for free each round and the blinds took just a little bit longer to come around.

last night was a little personal victory for me. after a couple hours of play i was stuck after a couple of river beats- twice the river brought a straight for my opponent and stuck it to me. but I hung in there and clawed my way back up and finished the night up. once i get stuck (which always seems to happen) it's always a race to see if i can get unstuck before people lose their money and call it a night.

hands of note: the new guy caught quad 5s on the river. NC made a straight flush on the river.

poker on the brain

i can't remember ever having a poker dream before, but this one is worth mentioning.

i'm in the luxor poker room and checking out the games. there's a 2/4 game going in sitting in the 9s is none other than gus hansen. the 1s is open and i'm actually thinking about sitting down. i turn to somebody and say to them "but i'll have position!"

maybe it's a sign i'm ready to mix it up with the big boys. hah.

fin

that's it. i'm taking a break from poker. i blew the rest of my bankroll on party. i'm not going to turn this into a cry-fest, but i really got a couple of bad beats.

1. my AA falls to a river flush after i had bet the pot on this guy on the flop and turn.
2. guy calls my all in (~$20) pre-flop with Axs and catches an ace on the river to make a higher boat.

i'm not going to cry foul and claim that the site is rigged. i think it's a blessing in disguise. i know that i've probably squandered a lot of time that i should have been working on wedding plans. maybe once i'm a happily married man i'll go back and test the waters.

until then i don't know how much poker-related posts i'll be making.

86 days.
-tank

i'm number 1!

for the last three days i have sat atop the leader board of the pokersavvy.com fantasy poker league. the second, third, fourth place showing of john juanda, daniel negreanu and paul phillips in event #7 propelled me to the top. so far, 9 of my 10 picks are producing for me with only exception being doyle brunson, but how could i not put him on my team?

no poker to report this weekend. i took a brutal beating thursday and friday on party. i might try my hand again tonight.

-tank

1761

that's what the Bad-Beat-o-Meter put it at.

once again QQ goes down in flames. ok, my opponent did have aces. but he didn't flop the boat. sure he had a boat on the turn, but it was an under boat. he had three outs going into the river. 3. it's hands like these that question why one even plays poker. i mean, there's no way i could outplay him on this one. in retrospect i could have shoved all in on the flop, but even then there's not much chance he's going to lay down aces.

Hand 1:
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (10 handed)

UTG+2 ($24.61)
MP1 ($20.95)
MP2 ($19)
MP3 ($24.50)
CO ($15.59)
Hero ($48.73)
SB ($19.28)
BB ($63.44)
UTG ($20.75)
UTG+1 ($30.41)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q, Q. MP2 posts a blind of $0.50.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 (poster) checks, MP3 folds, CO folds, Hero raises to $3, SB folds, BB raises to $10, MP2 folds, Hero calls $7.

Flop: ($20.75) T , T , Q (2 players)
BB bets $15, Hero calls $15.

Turn: ($50.75) T (2 players)
BB bets $24, Hero calls $23.73 (All-In).

River: ($98.48) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $98.48
BB shows A A (full house, aces full of tens).
Hero shows Q Q (full house, queens full of tens).
Outcome: BB wins $98.47.

93% favorite going into the river. there's not much more you can ask for. it would be tempting to believe the conspiracy rumors of rigged poker sites, but i'd just like to believe that karma owes me one. hopefully one day the tables will be turned; at a WSOP final table will be nice. until then i'll just have to grind away.

brutalized

that's the only word i can use for it. i decided to put on the snorkle and jump back into the waters last night at the $25 nl tables. the first couple of hours went well, lots of small pairs seen on the cheap making a set on the flop. i was under no disillusion that this was all skill. the board was being very, very kind to me. and then, the pain began. if only i hadn't seen QQ all night id probably be a happier man this morning.

Hand 1: bottom pair and a prayer
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (10 handed)
MP2 ($23.50)
MP3 ($10)
CO ($40.15)
Button ($24.18)
SB ($30.89)
BB ($18.70)
UTG ($140.69)
Hero ($40.99)
UTG+2 ($12.25)
MP1 ($24.50)

Preflop: Hero is UTG+1 with Q, Q.
UTG calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3, UTG+2 folds, MP1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button calls $3, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls $2.50.

Flop: ($9.75) T, 7, 9 (3 players)
UTG checks, Hero bets $15, Button raises to $21.18 (All-In), UTG folds, Hero calls $6.18.

Turn: ($52.11) A (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: ($52.11) 5 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: $52.11

Results below:
Hero shows Q Q (one pair, queens).
Button shows A 7 (two pair, aces and sevens).
Outcome: Button wins $52.11.
» ok, he had 5 outs. i guess i didn't get the email from party saying it was suck out night.

Hand 2: but they're suited.....
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50 BB (9 handed)
Button ($22.50)
SB ($9.50)
BB ($45.65)
UTG ($43.81)
UTG+1 ($34.34)
MP1 ($20.25)
Hero ($23.40)
MP3 ($7.25)
CO ($22)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q, Q.
UTG calls $0.50, UTG+1 calls $0.50, MP1 calls $0.50, Hero raises to $3.5, MP3 folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG calls $3, UTG+1 folds, MP1 raises to $6.5, Hero calls $3, UTG calls $3.

Flop: ($20.75) Q, 2, J (3 players)
UTG checks, MP1 bets $0.5, Hero raises to $5, UTG folds, MP1 raises to $9.5, Hero raises to $16.9 (All-In), MP1 calls $4.25 (All-In).

Turn: ($51.40) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

River: ($51.40) 8 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Final Pot: $51.40

Results below:
MP1 shows 6 A (flush, ace high).
Hero shows Q Q (three of a kind, queens).
Outcome: MP1 wins $48.25. Hero wins $3.15.
» what can i do? i put my money in when i had the best of it. looks like i bet too small on the flop and gave him the proper odds to call. what can you do? pull the broomstick out of your ass and get back in the game.

what was i thinking?

i'm like the character in that brandon frasier movie where he's been living underground in a fallout shelter with his folks. i never really saw the movie so i'm a little fuzzy on most of the details, but the trailer showed enough to get the general gist. anyway, BF's character turns 18 and his parents tell him that there's a whole world out there.

well folks, i'm kind of like BF that way (minus the height, good looks, money and hollywood star power) in that i've been living in ignorance until now. what was i thinking?!! in the 7 odd hours i've been playing the party $25 no-limit tables, i've been amazed at how many fish there truly are. i mean, i had heard stories, but i just couldn't believe that they were true.

here's just a sample: hand 1, "are you looking at the board?"
Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em, $0.50(6 handed)

BB ($56.90)
UTG ($35.55)
Hero ($66.35)
CO ($23.25)
Button ($24.50)
SB ($30.30)

Preflop: Hero Q , 2.
UTG folds, Hero calls $0.50, CO folds, Button raises to $1, SB folds, BB folds, Hero calls $0.50.

Flop: ($2.75) J, K, Q(2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $2, Hero raises to $5, Button raises to $8, Hero calls $3.
» i don't really have a read on this guy, but i think he would have raised a little more if he had a big pair. i can't say how, but i just couldn't believe he had a king

Turn: ($18.75) 9 (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $10, Hero calls $10.

River: ($38.75) J (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets $5.5 (All-In), Hero calls $5.50.
» ok, not the card i wanted to see but for only $5.50 more i gotta see

Final Pot: $49.75

Results below:
Hero shows Q 2 (two pair, queens and jacks).
Button shows 8 8 (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $49.75.
ok, this could have very easily gone the other way and he shows a king or jack, but i mean, what was he thinking? if he had a bigger stack and pushed more in on the river i would have had to think really hard. but a fifty cent pre flop raise just didn't seem like face cards.

actually, the more i think about this hand i realize i played it really poorly. at every step there are so many cards that he could have that could screw me. i mean, it's not beyond possiblity that he has Kxs or even a ten.

i did it

for a while now i've been reading other poker blogs that say money does really grow on trees at party poker but resisted the temptation. after i blew the rest of my bank roll at ub i decided to give it a try. last night was my first time playing with real money. i played at the $25 no limit tables and found that indeed that i had found the fish hatchery. one guy pushed all in on the river with two pair when four cards to broadway were sitting right there. no surprise that his two callers both had a queen to complete the straight and divide up his money.

i'm also excited because i ponied up the money for poker tracker and can now start keeping accurate records of my play. manually recording every single hand history on ub was just not for me.

more later, but now it's time to work.

tnp

for those who don't know, tnp = tuesday night poker.

last night once again reaffirmed that we are a bunch of degenerate gamblers. after playing two hours of solid no-limit holdem, i made a couple of mistakes that suddenly found me down to the felt. mistake one was trying to get too tricky when i flopped bottom two pair and tried to slow play. and when i say slow play, i mean ice age glacial movement slow play. unfortunately by slow playing both the flop and turn, i allowed MN to catch runner-runner two pair which of course beat my sixes and twos. and no, i don't usually play 62o but i was the big blind.

and once again the perils of playing 5-handed (and then 4 handed when NC called it a night) is that the game could break at any moment and did when RL busted out and left us with only three. of course, RL decided to leave at the moment when i had just taken my second beat and was stuck $40.

but the night was young and we handn't played for two weeks so MN and i weren't ready to call it quits if we had anything to say about it. CB decided to be the bank on a little blackjack and i happily bought in for another $10. i proceeded to burn through my $10 and MN quickly lost all of his poker winnings to an amazing run of cards for the house. CB caught 21 so often that if we were at a casino the house would have been pulling up the tape. CB busted both of us out when we both held 20 and he hit to catch the perfect card and make 21. undaunted, we both bought in and i was able to run $30 up to $80 to break even for the night. the biggest hand was when both MN and I doubled down on 11's and CB busted.

until next tuesday.

been a while

sorry for the drought (not that there's anyone reading these anyways). after the trip to LV we took a two week hiatus from tnp so i haven't been playing much cards. hopefully no one will bail tonight and i'll have something to report tomorrow.

i did have a poker-related dream this morning as i was playing tag with the snooze button. as i can remember it, I was dealing to martin landau (the prof from rounders) and one of my co-workers. the only problem was one hand my co-worker showed had 2 nine of spades. that's all i can remember before the alarm went off again.

wish me luck tonight. 109 days.

trip report

here it is. i've broken the trip report out by days.

saturday - bellagio $8/16
sunday - luxor 12:00pm tourney
monday - mandalay bay 10:00am tourney

the day after

back at work after a long weekend in LV with the tnp crew. suprisingly i only played about 12 hours of poker in our 48 some odd hours there. but i did manage to chop first place money in my very first LV hold 'em tourney on sunday at the luxor and then follow it up with a second place showing at my second tourney at mandalay bay monday morning. i think i'll do a long write up of my trip and send it over to linda at pokerworks.com and see if she'd be willing to post it and just put a link here.

more later, now it's time to play catch up at work.

SnG madness

last night we changed the format of our regular tnp to play sit-n-go tournaments. all five of us started with T1000 and blinds of 10/25 with blinds increasing every 7 minutes. we each threw in $10 and paid out 70/30 to 1st and 2nd. the first game was akward as we were getting used to the idea of a no limit tournament but by the second game we were cruising along.

the argument for playing these games was to get ready for VEGAS. i guess on one level it did, but on the other, i had to wonder how many times we expected to get to the final table of a tournament, let alone heads up.

the first game i went out on the bubble when the river gave NC two pair to beat my aces. oh well. second and third games are a blur but i went out unceremoniously in 4th both times. the third game came down to heads up between MN and RL. MN had built his stack up from T70 by winning a series of all ins and finally took the game. the match see-sawed back and forth between the two as they took turns going all in pre-flop, a la dewey tomko. the fourth game saw me heads up with MN in what was a much different match seeing a lot more flops and with me finally prevailing.

in the fifth game, i knocked out NC on the first hand when i limped in with A6o and flopped two pair. NC in the BB was the aggresor the whole way going all in on the river. i happily called and he mucked without even showing. another memorable hand was when it was three way and i completed my small blind with 79 and RL checked. flop came 862, all spades. RL went all in and i called with what i thought was the open ended straight flush draw. unfortunately Rl had 5T , both ends of my straight flush. a J came on the turn to give our combined hands a 7-card straight flush. luckily i had RL covered and was able to get heads up with MN again. the decisive hand came when i raised with J7o in the small blind and MN called. flop was JJ7 and i check-called. turn was another a thrid heart and again i check called. i bet out on the river T hoping MN had made either a flush or straight and would go all in. he called with J5 and i took down the pot.

we're going to play again on friday, as if we aren't going to play enough this weekend. is there such thing as too much poker?